Best of Bosses 2008: In Bed With Her Italian Boss\Taken by Her Greek Boss\Blind Date With the Boss (47 page)

‘Occasionally, but do they allow that kind of dancing at balls?' He had to raise his voice to reach her above the thumping noise.

‘I'd be surprised if they didn't include some. It is the twenty-first century, after all.' Arms above her head, Sally jiggled and shook, making her bright curls bounce. ‘Come on, Logan. Let me see what you've got.'

He would have liked to simply stand there and watch Sally. She was so lively and pretty, so graceful and glowing. She shimmied up to him, swaying her lithe body and holding her hands out in front of her. ‘Just move. You can stay in one spot if you like, but get those feet going.'

Logan nodded his head and started to move self-consciously.

‘Close your eyes,' she instructed. ‘Forget I'm here. Just listen to the music and feel that beat.'

It certainly helped to close his eyes. Without the distraction of Sally in front of him, he could hear the pumping rhythm, the throb of the bass, pounding in time to his accelerated heartbeat.

‘Now let yourself go,' Sally urged. ‘Loosen your shoulders and go with the flow.'

Her voice was surprisingly close and, when he opened his eyes, he found her bobbing and swaying beside him. ‘Come on,' she coaxed with another glowing smile, ‘forget you're the boss and just hang loose.'

Taking his hands in hers, Sally drew him gently towards her. That did it. The temptation was too much. Forget dancing! Logan closed the gap between them, gathered Sally in and kissed her.

S
ALLY
stopped dancing. Her entire system stopped, stilled by the sweet shock of Logan's lips touching hers.

A moment's fear claimed her as she remembered that other time, that
other
man she'd danced with and that other kiss that had turned so quickly into a nightmare.

A wave of panic rose instinctively. But then, thankfully, reason kicked in.

This man wasn't remotely like Kyle Francis. This was Logan, the man she'd been fantasising about for weeks now. She knew him well. She'd been alone with him many times. She'd met his grandmother, for heaven's sake, and she really, really wanted his kiss.

Winding her arms about Logan's neck, her hesitation dissolved. There was no more doubt, no fear—just an amazing melting happiness. Logan's lips were tender and sensuous, his kiss unhurried, almost lazy, as if he knew her worst fears and how to allay them with one perfect, sensuous, dizzying kiss.

Twining his hand in her hair, he tilted her head back so that he could take the kiss deeper while his other hand supported the small of her back, holding her against him, which was just as well because her body and her legs were melting faster than sugar in hot tea.

Never had she felt so safe, yet sexy. She wanted to wrap herself around Logan. She wanted to—

His body stiffened suddenly and he lifted his mouth from hers.

Dazed, disappointed, Sally blinked and saw that he was glaring in the direction of the door. The
open
door.

The security guard was standing there, confusion and embarrassment in his eyes. He said something that they couldn't hear above the blare of the music. Sally hurried to turn it off.

The sudden silence was shocking.

‘I—I'm terribly sorry, Mr Black.' The guard was red-faced as he scratched at the top of his bald head. ‘I heard the music and I thought some kids had broken in.'

Logan didn't reply. He stood there with his hands on his hips, staring with a narrowed, angry gaze in the direction of the door. Clearly, he hated this moment and it was Sally's fault. She'd played the rowdy music. She'd taunted him with her come-and-get-me dancing.

‘It's OK, Reg,' Logan said at last. ‘There's no problem here. We're just finishing up.'

‘I'll be on my way, then.' The guard's eyes were still wide with disbelief as he exited backwards, pulling the door closed as he went.

Logan turned and his gaze met Sally's. Her heart thumped as they stood watching each other without speaking. It was an age before he reacted and then his mouth tilted into a tiny lopsided smile. ‘I'm sorry,' he said quietly. ‘I shouldn't have kissed you.'

So that was how it was going to be. He would dismiss it as a mistake, easily forgotten. Sally managed to turn her sigh of disappointment into a casual shrug. ‘It doesn't matter.' She forced a cheerful smile. ‘We can blame it on the music.'

He seemed relieved that she was happy to leave it at that.
‘I guess we've done enough for tonight,' he said. ‘I should take you home now.'

Her mind was reeling from the double shock of his kiss and its interruption and she simply nodded and unplugged the player from the wall.

They walked back to the car in silence.

Before Logan turned on the ignition, he said, ‘If you open the glove box, you'll find a CD that I thought might interest you. I meant to show it to you earlier.'

Sally took it out and read the label. ‘
Hattie Lane at the Piano
. Is this your grandmother's music?'

He nodded and set the car in motion, reversing smoothly out of the parking space.

‘I'd love to hear Hattie play. Can we listen to this now?'

‘You're welcome to borrow it.'

The car shot out into the busy lanes of traffic and Sally stared at Logan's handsome profile. What an enigma he was—one minute distancing himself from her and behaving as if their kiss was nothing more than a careless mistake, and then suddenly opening a door into his private life and offering to share something of deep personal significance. Did he realise he was sending her so many mixed signals?

When he pulled up outside her house, he said, ‘About the ball.'

Sally hoped he wasn't going to ask for another lesson. How could she stand the stress of pretending this was just about business? She'd already breached her personal pain threshold.

But the question of lessons wasn't raised. Instead, Logan looked at her and continued calmly, as if he were discussing the weather, ‘I thought you might like to come to the ball. As my partner.'

This time Sally didn't just stare, she gasped. Several times. Logan had, quite literally, taken her breath away.

‘You've told me how much you love balls and this is a truly
glittering event,' he added with a smile that was pure Prince Charming. ‘And I can't think of anyone I know who'd enjoy this ball as much as you would.'

‘But…I…we…'

‘Don't you think you've earned it, Sally?'

Her mouth opened and shut. She was quite sure she should refuse him loudly and promptly, and her inability to do this immediately was frightening. Her best defence against this boss, who sent her so many confusing signals, was to stay well clear.

His right hand tightened around the steering wheel. ‘To be honest, I should confess that the whole Diana Devenish thing still terrifies me and I could do with a little moral support.' He shot her another of his gorgeous smiles. ‘A comrade in arms, so to speak.'

Sally gulped. ‘Like a coach, cheering you on from the sidelines?'

‘Exactly.'

Oh, help. She feared she was weakening. ‘But—but a ball's very public. If I went as your partner, everyone at Blackcorp would be bound to find out.'

‘I'd say that cat's already out of the bag. The security fellow is bound to talk.' He shrugged and his jaw squared as he stared out through the windscreen at a rubbish bin that someone had forgotten to take back inside. ‘So what do you think?'

‘I…I don't know.' Her mind seemed to have frozen. But one sure thing she couldn't ignore was that Logan Black needed her help.

Looking down, she saw Hattie's CD in her hands. There was a picture on the cover of an elegant dark-eyed woman seated at the piano in a slinky silver gown. She was aged about forty and barely recognisable as Logan's elderly grandmother. Sally stared at the glamorous photograph and, thinking aloud, said, ‘I don't have anything to wear.'

He chuckled. ‘That's easily fixed. There's a woman in Rose Bay with a fabulous dress shop. If I send you to Agathe, she'll kit you out.'

Rose Bay? The prices in those shops were exorbitant.

‘And I'll take care of the bill,' he said.

‘But you can't. I couldn't let you.'

‘Don't waste your breath fighting that one, Sally. It's payment where payment is due. If you help me to get through this ghastly ball, you'll be doing me an enormous favour.'

‘It would be much easier to say yes if you hadn't kissed me tonight.'

Jerking his gaze away down the street again, Logan said, ‘That's a fair comment, but as a boss speaking to an employee, I give you my word, Sally.' His hand on the steering wheel clenched tighter. ‘I'm not a louse and I will not expect you to sleep with me as payment for a ticket to the ball.'

Sally's cheeks grew very hot. ‘Right. I…I didn't expect that you would.' She swallowed to relieve the sudden dryness in her throat. ‘But it…it's helpful to be clear about it.' She realised she was trembling, but not with fear. She could trust this man; she knew that.

The long conversations at the team-building workshop, the hours they'd spent dancing, the visit to Hattie's, the dinner, the kiss—never once had Logan shown any reason why she should be afraid of him.

His gaze flicked over her and she saw a small gleam of amusement in his eyes.

‘What's so funny?'

‘I can't believe I'm putting such a lovely girl off limits.'

Off limits? Sally was startled by her disappointment. She might not fear this man, but perhaps being in love with him was a worse problem. She longed to tell him that being ‘off limits' wasn't what she wanted at all. In fact, his gentlemanly
declaration made her utterly miserable. The more she saw of Logan, the more deeply she fell for him. She should never have let her feelings get this far.

‘Is that settled, then?' he asked her, annoyingly calm. ‘Will you come with me to the ball?'

Sally could feel her resistance giving way. Romantic yearnings aside, she felt a teacherly pride in her pupil. Logan had tried really hard to learn how to waltz and he'd made terrific progress. She would love watching him pull off the dance with Diana Devenish.

‘Take pity on me, Sally.'

‘The last thing you need, Mr Black, is pity.'

‘Think of your own enjoyment, then. You'll love it.'

She could almost feel Chloe urging her.
You came to Sydney for opportunities like this.

‘All right,' she said finally, ‘I'll come.' With her hand on the door handle, she remembered to add her thanks. And then she remembered something else. ‘The ball's on Friday evening, you'll have to make arrangements for Hattie's roses.

Logan smiled warmly. ‘Thanks for the reminder. You'd make a great PA.'

 

In the kitchen, Sally made herself a cup of tea. She added sugar and milk and took it into the lounge room, where she slipped Hattie's CD into the player.

Almost immediately, the gorgeous sounds of a piano rippled and soared and rolled around her. The music was beautiful…like moonlight on water, or the first flush of dawn in the bush. It reached inside Sally, touching soul-deep chords.

‘Oh, Hattie,' she whispered, sinking into an armchair, ‘I had no idea.'

She pictured Hattie, young and talented and beautiful, and she saw Logan as a little boy playing in his grandmother's garden where white roses bloomed. Deep inside, she felt a bond with them. She thought of Hattie now, old and frail; Logan tall and manly.

Ridiculously, for no reason that she properly understood, she began to cry.

 

The next evening she telephoned Clifton House and asked if she could speak to Hattie Lane.

‘Hello,' answered a quavering voice.

‘Hattie?'

‘Yes.'

‘It's Sally Finch. Logan lent me one of your CDs and I wanted to tell you how much I loved it.'

‘Thank you, Sally. How thoughtful of you to call.'

‘I think your playing is absolutely brilliant. So beautiful. It made me cry. In the nicest possible way.'

‘Well, thank you, dear.' After a beat, Hattie asked, ‘Did you say that Logan gave you the CD?'

‘Yes.'

‘My, my.' Hattie sounded amused. ‘And I believe you're going to the Hospital Ball with him.'

Gosh.
Word got around quickly. ‘Yes, I am. Did Logan tell you about it?'

‘His sister, Carissa, rang me earlier this afternoon. When I told her that I'd already met you here at Clifton House, she was agog.' Hattie laughed. ‘You've really set the cat among the pigeons, Sally.'

‘Actually, that would be a Finch, not a cat.'

Hattie laughed harder, but then she said, much more soberly, ‘You will be careful, won't you, my dear?'

‘I…I'm not sure what you mean.'

‘I see. Then perhaps I'd better leave well alone.'

‘No, please don't. If there's something I should know, I'd like you to tell me.'

After a disconcerting silence, Hattie said, ‘My grandson would never hurt you intentionally, Sally. He's a dear boy and incredibly generous. If it weren't for his assistance, I wouldn't be able to stay in this expensive nursing home and his parents wouldn't be tripping around Australia. But I'm afraid he's far too focused on his business. He's intent on making sure he doesn't commit the same mistakes his father made.'

Sally would have liked to ask what those mistakes were, but that would have been too nosy.

‘It would take someone quite exceptional to steer Logan away from the course he's set upon,' Hattie said. ‘But then, I suspect that you are an exceptional girl, Sally.'

If Sally had been better acquainted with Hattie, if she'd been having this conversation face to face rather than over the telephone, she might have pressed the elderly woman for an explanation. What was this course that Logan had embarked on and why should anyone want to steer him from it?

As she hung up, she wondered if Logan's grandmother assumed that all girls who went out with her grandson heard wedding bells.

‘Not this girl,' Sally said, replacing the receiver thoughtfully. ‘I might be fanciful but I have both feet firmly on the ground.'